Naftogaz Wants Trilateral Talks On Gazprom's Gas Transit Proposal - Executive Director

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2019) Ukraine's Naftogaz plans to discuss the gas transit contract proposal of Russian energy giant Gazprom in trilateral format, with the participation of Russia and the European Commission, Naftogaz Executive Director Yuriy Vitrenko says.

"We hope that work in the trilateral format [Ukraine, Russia, European Commission] will continue. The latest proposal from Gazprom will also be discussed transparently in the trilateral format," Vitrenko said during the "Freedom of Speech" show on the Ukrainian ICTV tv channel.

On Monday, Gazprom sent Naftogaz an official proposal to extend the transit contract or enter into a new one for one year. Vitrenko said later in the day that Naftogaz had received Gazprom's proposal and would study it carefully before responding.

Gazprom said on Monday that both the extension of the active contract with Naftogaz and the signing of a new one were only possible if both sides withdrew all claims filed with the international arbitrage and ceased all court proceedings; if the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine abolished its decision on slapping Gazprom with a fine over alleged economical competition breach; and if Naftogaz called off its request for the European Commission to launch a probe against Gazprom.

The current 10-year agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz expires at the end of 2019, and the European Commission is brokering talks aimed at putting in place a new contract to take effect from the start of 2020.